A Return to Normalcy
by AngelRosiel
Summary: The Brotherhood adjusts to life after "The HeX Factor" Lighthearted junk! Chapter 2: Todd and Wanda bond while Lance does something stupid.
1. The Toad, the Witch, and the... Rock Tum...

DISCLAIMER: I don't own annnnybody in this fic! Marvel Comics/ Kids' WB do :P 

A/N: These are rushed authors' notes. Dunno what to say! Whee! Okay, this fic is mainly about Wanda and Todd, but the secondary plot is Lance and Pietro and they may or may not get together in this, I dunno O.o It all depends on if I feel like slashing them or not when I get to a specific point! I dunno, you tell me. Of course, whether I listen or not is... yeah. Seeing as how this is merely the first chapter, don't expect a crapload of plot development. This is just... the foundations FOR plot development! 

Crap. I just realized I left out the Magneto scene I wanted to put in this... Oh well! This isn't proofread, so.. I'm warning you now. I have no idea if this is a totally stupid idea or not... So... read on! (yeah, that REALLY wants to make you read, doesn't it? :P). 

Oh, and this is kinda short. Sorrrrrry. 

**Chapter 1: The Toad, the Witch, and the... Rock Tumbler**

Todd had to admit, after his initial meeting with Pietro's-- and this he still couldn't believe-- _sister_, he was pretty wary of her presence in the Brotherhood's home. 

No, scratch that... He was pretty fuckin' freaked. It didn't help that Mystique just _had_ to bring that creepy old witch along with her, too. Hell, ever since her return to the house, things had been a little... strained. Mystique was back to her rigid frost-bitch self, acting as if she had never _abandoned_ them for months; Wanda had serious anger management problems that generally resulted in the breaking of things; and the old lady was just plain unnerving. 

Oh yeah. He had a feeling things would be going downhill for the Brotherhood. There were certain things you just couldn't _do_ in the presence of ladies. Sure, they weren't strangers to having chicks in the house, but seeing as how Tabitha was hardly a lady, they didn't use too much discretion around her. Mystique, however, was all _class_ (despite her new biker chick look). There was no way she'd tolerate them making crude jokes and acting like-- well-- _guys_ around her. 

Well, that was what he thought, anyway. Sure enough, things were true to his predictions at first. Mystique-- ever the vigilant leader-- drilled them harder than ever as the creepy old lady (Agatha, he later learned, or Ms. Harkness) taught Wanda how to control her powers so that she wouldn't go into a psychotic rage every time Pietro stepped into the room. By the end of the first few days, Todd was about ready to commit suicide in various creative ways (such as jumping between a ravenous Freddy and his food)-- that is, until something marvelous happened. 

They had fought the X-Geeks and-- get this-- they _won!_ Oh, sure, he hadn't even been conscious to see half of it, and sure Wanda really did most of the work, but that was beside the point! They sent the X-Men running! And it was a team effort (well, kinda)! 

After that, things drastically improved for the Brotherhood. They'd gotten used to Mystique's ever watchful presence again, Wanda was a helluva lot more calmer now, and Agatha was actually a nice-- albeit eccentric as hell-- lady with a knack for Biology and foreign languages (which seriously helped to improve his grades). After a long day of busting their asses, the house was once again clean, and Mystique seemed to have lightened up on the verbal abuse a bit. Todd had to admit, for a bitch who had a tendency to treat him like the team's whipping boy, he actually preferred her living with them to Boom Boom. It was good to be able to set foot in the bathroom again without some psychotic blonde barging in and totally invading his privacy. It was good to be able to actually listen to his CDs without having to worry about them being stolen. And it was _damn good_ not to have to deal with Tabby and her stupid boom-balls blowing up and destroying their already barely functioning utilities. 

He definitely wouldn't miss the smell of noxious perfume that seemed to pervade through the house whenever she was around, either. Sure, there were now more women around than before, but damn, at least _they_ knew where the line between "fragrant" and "Oh, God, it's filling up my lungs! I think I'm choking! _Hack hack wheeze!_" was. 

It had been about a week or so after their victory in the mall, and for the Brotherhood, it felt like a sort of return to normalcy... 

* * * * * * 

"--talk to me, damn it!" There was a pause, during which Lance's scowl deepened. "_What?!_ Hey, don't-- hello?" Lance pulled the phone away from his ear and glared at it, as if it was the phone's fault Kitty had stopped talking to him. 

Todd couldn't help but roll his eyes-- not that Lance would notice. He was too preoccupied with his social life to really care about his teammates anymore. It was just "Oh, Kitty!" this and "Gee, Kitty!" that. 

"God damn it!" the rock tumbler seethed, slamming the phone down on the receiver abusively. 

"Kitty's still not talkin' to ya, huh?" Todd asked casually, though in truth he could care less. As far as he was concerned, the sooner the bubblegum pink twit was out of their lives, the better. Maybe _then_ Lance would go back to his old self. Sure, Pietro and Freddy were great guys and all, but to tell the truth, Todd missed being able to go to Lance for help. Lance was the first guy he'd met in the Brotherhood; the guy who used to protect him from Duncan and Co.; the guy who, after Mystique ran off on Asteroid M, declared that he was going to work his way up in the world and help the Brotherhood get by. 

_The guy who fuckin' dumped us for his pseudo-girlfriend,_ Todd reminded himself with residual bitterness. 

"No," Lance answered shortly. He didn't say anything more, only stalked over to the fridge and rummaged around for some food. Finally, after some tense silence, he grabbed a bottle of water and kicked the refrigerator door closed. "You know, I don't get her." 

_Here we go..._ Todd braced himself for a rant. 

"We've lost to them-- how many times now?" the elder boy went on. 

"Lots." 

"Exactly! And we got over it! They lose once-- just once-- and what do they do?! They refuse to talk to me!" 

"'They'?" Todd snorted scornfully and corrected him with: "You mean 'she'." 

"Yeah, so..." He shrugged, trying to be casually dismissive. "I didn't think she'd start to treat me like I'm nothin' just because they lost and can't handle it." 

_So what? So you lost your little friendship with our enemies? Big deal. Maybe **now** you'll stop ignoring the only family you got._

"You know, she was _all_ over that blue freak today. I mean, not kissing him or anything, just clinging to his arm and giggling. She made a big show of it when I walked by." 

"Gee, that sucks," the gangly teen said flatly, voice indicating that he lost any and all interest he had in the topic. "I guess you're stuck with us now." 

Lance gave him a funny look, tilting his head to the side and saying, "What's that supposed to mean?" 

"Nothin'." Todd shook his head and stood up, closing his English book as he did so. He wasn't really in the mood to do his homework, anyway. Sure, their TV was broken (courtesy of Wanda), but that didn't mean there was _nothing_ to do around the house, right? He turned to leave, only to let out a surprised yelp as he faced the doorway. 

"Jesus, Wanda! You scared the shit outta me, yo," he declared, dramatically placing a webbed hand to his heart. "How long have you been standin' there?" 

He thought he saw a ghost of a smile flicker across her normally sullen face, but it was gone as soon as he caught it. "I just wanted some lunch," she said in that soft, harsh voice of hers, and slinked past the quasi-amphibian without another word. 

Lance, meanwhile, protectively grabbed the neck of his water bottle, holding it with a guarded expression. He had been so used to Tabby's casual kleptomania by now that he had a newfound tendency to protect his possessions with his life. "Hey, Wanda," he greeted in a slightly forced voice. 

The ebony haired girl opened the pantry, ignoring Lance, then grabbed a bag of chips and walked back out again just as quickly as she had arrived. Okay, so she wasn't the most talkative chick in the world. 

"Man, she gives me the creeps," Lance muttered, and just as soon as the words had left his mouth, the water bottle exploded, spraying its contents on the two boys, who stood there blinking for a second. 

"Uh..." 

"What just happened?" 

"I think you offended her, yo." 

"....Girls," the brunette grumbled as he grabbed a towel to clean up the mess. 

* * * * * * 

What the hell was up with Todd?! 

That was a question his bedroom wall couldn't answer. Lance Alvers groaned, shifting so that he was lying on his back and looking up at the ceiling. It'd been nagging at him for a while, the things Todd said. What did he _mean_ by "I guess you're stuck with us now", anyway?! Of course he was stuck with them; he freakin' _lived_ with them! 

_Unless... Todd meant it in that metaphorical way!_

Lance mulled over that possibility for a moment, then scoffed. _Yeah, 'cause he's **such** a metaphorical guy._

He frowned, sending an evil eye up to the hapless ceiling. _If he has something to tell me, why doesn't he just **say** it?! Ohhh, no, what am I thinking? That'd make things **way** too easy on Lance, and we can't have that now! _

Er. End sarcasm. 

It wasn't that Lance was a totally clueless guy or anything. He knew there was something bugging his little friend, but he couldn't really tell what it was, other than that simple "Nyeh nyeh, you've got a girrrlfriend" thing that little brothers tended to do. 

Then again, Todd was quite a bit past that age... So what could it be? Jealousy? 

_Pffth. Why the hell would he be jealous of **Kitty**?! Would he actually **want** me thinkin' about him the way I think about her? Ah, geez, I hope not. I don't have nothin' against that, but Pietro's fruit enough for this place._

Okay, so jealousy was ruled out for the time being. Jeez, what did that leave? Lance was far from stupid, but that didn't mean he was the sharpest crayon in the pencil box, or however that phrase went. He was a blunt kinda guy. If you had something to say, you said it. He never liked it when people danced around an issue, dropping all sorts of veiled hints when they could just say "Hey, asshole, I'm mad at you!" 

_Maybe he's bummed because Mystique's back._

There was a reasonable answer to the Todd problem! Mystique back = Todd abuse = cranky barbed comments towards Lance! It all made sense now! Well, it all made sense unless he was... totally wrong about the entire situation... but what were the chances of that?! 

"Don't answer that question," he ordered to... well, no one in particular. 

"What question?" 

Lance's eye twitched. In this house, people had a way of jumping in outta nowhere. The fact that Pietro had super speed just made the "jumping in" all the worse. 

"Nothing," he answered. "What's up?" 

"Mystique wants us all to meet in the backyard for training. Well, not really training, more like 'we run around while Wanda kicks our asses'." 

"Fun." Lance sat up and stared at the lithe boy in the doorway. "How're you dealing?" 

"With Wanda?" 

"Yeah." 

Pietro shrugged casually, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the doorway. "Great. She's not trying to impale me anymore, at least. We're like this," he said, crossing two fingers together. "'Tight' and all that." 

"Yeah. About as 'tight' as you and Summers are," Lance retorted, rolling his eyes. The fact that Pietro had just said 'tight' should've been enough to unnerve him, but, of course, he just _had_ to press the matter. "Seriously." 

"Seriously?" Pietro thought for a moment, then looked at Lance with sober blue eyes. "She told me that I look exactly like _him_ the other day. That should show you how much she loves me." 

The elder boy nodded slightly. Sure, he didn't really know the _whole_ basis for the Magneto/Pietro/Wanda melodrama that was going on, but the slender boy had told him enough during their "Late Night Talks" (which came as a result of a sleepness night on Pietro's part. When Wanda moved in, she got Pietro's old room, so he was exiled to live with Lance until they cleaned and repaired one of the older ones). He had to admit, thanks to Mystique's return, he and Pietro were closer friends than ever. It was funny how much he'd missed the ivory-haired boy and didn't even realize it during that short, explosive time Tabby was living with them and he was seeking refuge everywhere but at home. 

_I missed out on a lot with the guys..._

Pietro stood up straight, bringing his hands to his sides, a solemn expression on his normally mischievous face. "C'mon, let's go." He grinned pretty convincingly, though Lance could tell it was a little act. "Don't want Mystique bitching at us, do ya?" 

"You know I live for that," Lance joked, standing up from the bed. He walked over to Pietro and clapped a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder. "Don't let it get you down, man. She'll come around." 

"Yeah..." He shrugged Lance's hand away and looked up at him with a playful smirk. "Let's go before this turns _really_ sappy." 

* * * * * *

A/N: Whoo! You made it to the bottom or scrolled down here! Either way, uhh... I'm outta things to say at the moment because I REALLY need to do some homework before my test tomorrow *hissssss* Wait. Tests... Damn it! In any case, here's a quick status thingie for my fics: 

"Tumbling Down" - Dear God I'm so very very VERY stuck   
"Pietro Maximoff Blah Blah Labyrinth" - I need to watch the movie again before I can continue >.< br> "Empty Pages" - On hold 'till I feel the need to write angst. It's my angst fix and right now I'm in the same "Lalaaalaaaa FLUFF!!" mood that I'm ALWAYS in around this time of year (hence "Slushies" last year O.o) 

Okay, that's all for now! *passes out* 


	2. A Couple of Mutant James Bonds!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own annnnybody in this fic! Marvel Comics/ Kids' WB do :P 

A/N: **(READ! If you wanna know what's going on)** Here we go, a nice longer chapter with tons of pointlessness! Anyway, I've finally decided what it is I want to do with this fic! I've decided that, since many other ideas sprang up in my head while writing this, that I'm splitting this thing into a series of parts or books or something. Book One is "Return to Normalcy", which sets the stage for the other ones. This one introduces most of the characters who'll be starring in later parts and the beginnings of the relationships and whatnot. Well, what I mean is that Book 1 is about Todd and Wanda, Book 2 is Pietro and Lance, Book 3 is... some other people who're introduced in this chapter... O.o And so forth. What I plan on doing is going into the Brotherhood, the "Acolytes" (dudes from Day of Reckoning, and plus some more because if they don't have more guys, their odds of not-dying at the end of this series is pathetic >.>), and the X-Dorks and their little... relationships and what-have-yous. 

Yes. This may be a little bit rushed because I'm leaving tomorrow for a few days and wanted to post this so that while I was gone, I wouldn't have it looming over my head ;D And so... read! This chapter's fairly pointless, but it's really just intro-ing some peoples. 

Oh, and a big thanks goes out to Psycho B foooor making me finish this! Because I probably wouldn't have if it wasn't for her O.o;; 

**Chapter 2: A Couple Of Mutant James Bonds!**

The Brotherhood house was always pretty hectic before school, back when they actually _went_. During Mystique's "leave of absence", school days had settled down as the Brotherhood fell into the bad habit of skipping or showing up whenever the hell it suited them. With her return, she was very quick to restore some old rules, the main one being: be at school every day on time (most likely so she wouldn't have to deal with them any more than she had to). And just like that, the morning rush was back. 

"Man, Pietro, that's my hair gel you're wastin'!" 

"It likes me more, Freddy, _I_ give it a better home," the speedster retorted smugly, running the glop through his impeccable snowy hair. Todd watched the two, a toothbrush negligently dangling from his mouth. 

Sure, he may not've been the cleanest guy in the house, and his teeth weren't as white as they _could_ be (well, it wasn't like he didn't put up an effort to be clean... So he was a little scatterbrained at times and forgot to shower for a few days on end, but that didn't make him a _total_ stranger to the world of hygiene!), but even _he_ wouldn't stick that crap that Pietro and Freddy were so dearly fighting over in _his_ hair. 

"You can't dictate what the gel likes, Pietro!" 

"Why not? The results speak for themselves!" 

Todd took the brush out of his mouth and spat in the sink. "Most guys fight over _chicks_, ya know." 

The two elder boys looked at each other, then to Todd, scowling almost identically. The scraggly teen bit his lip to keep from snickering as they said in unison: "Shut up!" 

"Sure thing." A little salute, and with that he hopped out of the bathroom and down the stairs. The two would be a while, and Lance was trying to cram in some last-minute studying for some test that was apparently going to decide whether he failed history or not, so that gave him some time to kill. 

Yep, it was time to sit back and... watch the blank screen of a dead television set. Wow, killing time wasn't as much fun as it used to be. 

"...remember what we've learned today." 

"Yes." 

Todd blinked, then craned his neck to look up the stairs. Wanda had just stepped out of Agatha's room, already dressed and ready for the day. 

_Must've been training_, he thought simply as the girl came down to the living room. _Geez, she probably has to get up pretty early for that shit._

Todd shuddered at the horrible thought of actually having to get up early. Oh sure, sometimes he had some issues with the way Mystique acted like he was a useless burden on the Brotherhood, but there were times that he was grateful to be the least favored member of the group. Hell, when you were on the lady's good side, that meant having to put in waaay more work than he was willing to do. 

"Todd," Wanda said abruptly, startling the younger boy. The girl barely talked, and when she did, it was only when responding to something said to her. The idea of her actually _starting_ a conversation was pretty new concept to Todd. 

"I-- uh-- yeah?" he stammered in reply. Oh yes, he was _smooth_. 

She looked a little sheepish for a moment, and said reluctantly, "Can we... um, talk?" 

He blinked, caught off guard by her question. Truth be told, Todd had been expecting something more along the lines of "Could you, um... not step within ten feet of me ever again?", since that was about all girls ever said to him. Then again, Wanda wasn't like the girls at school. She didn't even _go_ to school, since Mystique and ol' Aggie hadn't deemed her ready yet. The process of getting her used to civilization (though Todd hardly considered a high school "civilization") again was going to take forever at the rate they were taking it. 

Pushing his "Oh my God, a _girl's_ talkin' to me and not tellin' me to go away!" anxieties aside, Todd said, "Sure, Wanda. I'm all ears-- man that'd be a sucky mutation, bein' all ears... I mean, can you imagine what that'd-- uhh... heh?" Abruptly, the teen stopped himself from babbling further and managed a toothy yellow grin (_Oh yeah, 'cause THAT'S gonna charm her, yo._) that didn't do a very good job at hiding his nervousness. 

She laughed a little bit-- well, sort of. It was like a _really_ reluctant, barely audible chuckle, but it was there! Todd almost beamed proudly. _He'd_ gotten _Wanda_ to slightly chuckle! It wasn't much, but hey, it was a start. 

Of course, just as soon as she'd laughed, her serious demeanor was back in place again as if she never heard Todd's dopey rambling. "Can we go outside? I mean, I just really need to get out of here, away from... I just need some fresh air." 

"Uhh... sure." 

_Oh, yeah, man, don't sound TOO thrilled._

Todd hopped off of the couch and started for the door, when a thought suddenly stopped him in mid-step. 

_Shit! I've gotta go to school! _

Okay, let's think this through. School? Girl who wants to talk to me? Go somewhere where people pick on me? Girl? Watch Lance try to get into Kitty's pants? Girl? Hmm... I THINK they can manage without me for a day. 

Well, it was a tough decision (okay, so it was a very simple decision that took an all of two seconds to come to), but without further debate, he followed Wanda out of the house, leaving whatever high school soap operas the other three boys were involved in behind. 

* * * * * 

"This food's so gross." 

"Picky, picky." St. John Allerdyce dipped a greasy fry in ketchup and dangled it in front of the other boy's face. "_This_ is the breakfast of champs, my friend." 

"What, three-hundred pound champs?" His companion pointed a finger at him and said, "You just wait 'till your metabolism dies, Allerdyce." 

"Thanks, mum," the spiky-haired blonde grinned, then promptly shoved the fry in his mouth. "You need to eat more, y'know. What's this ya got, anyway?" He grabbed the younger boy's drink and took a sip, then made a face. "Sprite? Come on, you need more than _Sprite_ to get ya through the day! Here, take some of my burger." 

The redhead's nose wrinkled at the thought of the burger. "No! That's just a heart attack waiting to happen!" 

"Jesus, Fabian, you're such a--" 

The other boy held up a hand to shut Allerdyce up, eyes peering at something behind the Aussie. "Hey, behind you," he murmured. 

Allerdyce turned his head to look out the window behind them. As he did, a pair of eerily familiar teens walked past the Gut Bomb. Okay, he knew they were important somehow-- well, at least the girl was; he didn't recall much at all about the guy-- but at the moment, that didn't strike him. What _did_ strike him was what a nice ass the chick had. And those vinyl pants... yes, those were always a _big_ plus. Briefly, he wondered what a chick like that was doing hanging around with a squat little kid, before his companion kicked his shin from under the table to regain his attention. 

"Ow! You didn't have to kick _that_ hard!" 

"I thought it'd be best to snap you out of your reverie before you began drooling on yourself," the redhead remarked with an innocent smile that _would've_ been convincing, had St. John not known what kind of vicious bitch Fabian could be (especially when ignored). 

"Thanks. I really owe ya one," John murmured dryly as he rubbed his aching shin. 

"Should we follow them?" 

"Naaah." The Aussie shook his head. "I think we'd seem a wee bit suspicious. 'Sides, we're gonna be at that school a' theirs-- uh. What time is it?" 

Fabian blinked, then looked down at his watch. "Seven-twenty-seven. School starts at seven-thirty, right?" 

"Yeah... Oh--" 

"_Shit!_" they both proclaimed, jumping from their seats and grabbing their backpacks before running for the door. 

"Late on the first day. We're bloody brilliant spies, aren't we?" the blonde teased as they sprinted towards Bayville High. They tried to make good time, though apparently the distance from the Gut Bomb to the school were a bit more than the two had expected. 

"Well... this ain't so bad. I... get to... burn off my future 'eart attack, and you... burn off the whole load 'a nothin' you ate," St. John laughed, though he was clearly becoming a bit exhausted. His pace gradually slowed down as Bayville High came within their veritable grasp. 

The redhead rolled his eyes and slowed down to a walk as they neared the entrance of the school. "Yeah, this is just _swell_. I can't believe he sent us on this idiotic assignment." He looked back down at his watch again and flashed St. John a small grin. "We made good time, at least. Only a few minutes late." 

"Great... See? Mags can... count... on... us..." John managed between gasps. He tossed his backpack to the ground and leaned against a nearby tree, catching his breath. "And 'ere Remy said we wouldn't even make it to th' school. We showed him!" 

"Well, it _would_ be rather pathetic if we couldn't even make it this far, you know. Come on, let's get our schedules." 

St. John nodded, and with that, the two Acolytes entered Bayville High. 

* * * * * 

Lance Alvers watched the back of Kitty's head, frowning. They were only ten minutes into Chemistry, and he came to the conclusion that he did _not_ like the new guy. 

There he was, right about to talk to Kitty-- confront her yet again about the incident in the mall, and explain his side of it-- when the new guy stepped in and immediately stole her attention away with his stupid good looks (_Blonde hair and blue eyes? C'mon, that's just SO overrated!_), his stupid "badder boy than Lance" look, and his stupid Australian accent. Geez, what did girls _see_ in accents, anyway?! They just made things harder to understand, and they ruined chances for normal guys with normal accents (like Lance) to get girls! 

_Lousy exotic accents..._

It was first bad enough that she kept on gawking at the guy ever since he stepped into the room, but then she _also_ had to make a big show over getting him to sit next to her, all the while totally blowing off Lance's existence. 

_I need to get her attention away from him... Maybe I should make the floor shake the next time he stands up! That way, he'll fall over and possibly injure himself! Or at least look stupid, thus making me look better!_

Oh, it was a devious plan, indeed. Lance grinned to himself, now watching the two with a small sense of triumph. He'd show that new guy his place! He'd teach blondie to sit next to Kitty and humor her advances towards him with that damned accent of his! 

And so, he bided his time, ever so cleverly ignoring the lecture his teacher was giving the class as he instead watched the two like a vindictive hawk of sorts. 

Finally, his moment of truth came-- well, he supposed truth wasn't a fairly accurate term for it. Maybe justice. Well, really, "the American way" was probably the best term, seeing as how he was an American and his newfound rival (who seemed to be totally oblivious to the rivalry) wasn't. 

Anyway, Lance's grin widened as the new guy-- John, he guessed, judging by Kitty's giggle-filled conversation with him-- got up to throw some piece of paper away. As the blonde ever so casually strolled back to his seat, the rock tumbler made a slight hand gesture to get the ground moving. 

"Ow! My ankle!" came the yelp he had been hoping for, though not from where he'd been expecting it. It sounded distant, like it wasn't even in the same classroom... How odd, considering that he hadn't manipulated his powers to any extent that would've affected the other rooms significantly... 

_Wait_. He thought for a moment, then came to a terrible realization. _This classroom's upstairs, which means that... I just went and fucked around with a class downstairs..._

Oops. Lance smacked himself for not taking that into consideration. 

_This is gonna be a lonnng day._ He sat back and frowned, spending the rest of the class period zoning in and out of the lecture on... acids or something. 

After the bell rang, Lance stayed behind for a moment, hoping for another chance to speak with Kitty. 

No such luck. She very promptly gathered her things and left with the rest of the class, leaving Lance behind with John and a couple of stragglers. 

_Well, this was a waste. Damn, if only this class wasn't upstairs, then my plan would've worked!_ Of course, how that would've actually affected Kitty, he didn't know. 

Lance sighed and shrugged his backpack on. As he turned to leave, a hand clapped on his shoulder, and he turned around to see none other than John standing there. 

"You need something?" Lance asked in a less-than-pleasant tone of voice. 

"Yeah-- ah... I don't really know my way 'round 'ere and--" 

"Sucks for you," the brunette muttered, rolling his eyes as he again turned to leave the classroom. Oh, sure he could play nice and totally mature and help the guy out, but that would... go against all that Lance stood for. Well, come to think of it, it had nothing to do with anything he "stood for", but the plain and simple fact of the matter was that Lance had no desire to help John find any of his classes. 

"Hey!" The blonde chased after the other boy and, catching up with him, said, "You aren't the friendliest guy, are you?" 

"What gave you _that_ idea?" 

"Gotta love America. Everybody's just so bloody polite 'ere." John offered Lance an easygoing grin, despite the semi-hostile vibe coming from the rock tumbler, and said, "I'm John, by the way. St. John Allerdyce." 

"Lance Alvers," the other grunted reluctantly. 

"Great! Well, now that we're all chummy, how 'bout showin' me to my next class?" 

With a great sigh, the surly teen said, "Fine. What's your next class?" 

"Um..." John pulled a folded sheet of paper out from his pocket and looked down at it with a scrutinizing gaze. "Oh, fun, it's American Hist'ry with Mrs. Scro-- Scruh-- somethin' or other." 

_Aaargh! No! Why?!_ Lance thought despairingly, as he forced a smile and said, "Oh." Indeed, he could barely contain his... happiness at that revelation. "I've... got that class, too," he muttered. "C'mon." 

* * * * * 

Pietro watched the blackboard with a blank expression. There really wasn't any need to take notes, seeing as how he could just skim the textbook later and have the entire chapter memorized in a couple of minutes. This gave him ample time for other things, such as... going over every stupid little aspect of his life and hopefully not get angsty over how complicated things were now that he was sharing a room with Lance and living under the same roof as Wanda again. Of course, he wouldn't have to think of such things, had Todd not cut school today. Hell, he wouldn't have had to think _at all_ if Todd was around to distract him. 

Not that he was surprised in the slightest that the Toad skipped class today. He used to do it all the time, and old habits died hard. What bugged Pietro, though, was the fact that Todd skipped out with _Wanda._

_What the hell can she tell him that she can't talk to me about?! I'm her freaking brother-- who... she hates. A lot. Possibly violently._ He thought back to their "reunion" a few weeks ago, and shook his head. _Okay, very violently. There's no "possibly" in there._

He sighed, resting his head in his arms as he stared off. _It seems like everybody I care about is being distant lately. Haven't had any contact with Father in months, Lance hasn't exactly been Mr. Dependable since his renewed obsession with **Pryde**,_ he added venomously, _and Wanda... well, she hates my guts. At least Todd 'n Freddy are still around-- well, for the most part. Actually... Lately, Todd's been kinda-- No. But... Noooo. Nowaynohownuhuh! Todd SO doesn't have the hots for my sister! She's-- my SISTER!_

The thought of Todd pining over his sibling was sickening, really-- not because it was Todd lusting over her, but, well... he couldn't bring himself to even consider her in the "Dude, it's a _girl_! Huh-huh-huh" way. Then again, he didn't really think of _any_ girl in that way, but that was beside the point! 

The point was, actually, that the more Pietro thought about his pal possibly lusting over his sister, the more it filled him with this odd feeling of... rage. Strange, he never really felt this way before. He loved Todd-- really, he did. The guy was like the little brother he never had! However... 

_I'm gonna kill him if he touches my sister. Wait... Why am I thinking about this?! Could it be my latent "overprotective brother" feelings that I should've used to save her from being institutionalized all those years ago? Could it be that I'm actually jealous because she won't even look at me, but she'll run off for a while to hang out with Todd? Could it be that-- the ground's shaking. Lance?_

Pietro looked up at the ceiling in accusation, his fingers gripping his desk for dear life. Of course, some people weren't as used to the periodic tremors as he was... 

"Ow! My ankle!" 

And there was the perfect example. Some new kid was unlucky enough to have been standing when Lance (presumably, since Bayville wasn't exactly known for its earthquakes) threw his tantrum, and promptly stumbled and landed in a pretty uncomfortably position-- well, judging by the way his foot was twisted. 

"Oh, great," Mr. Madson (or Coach Madson. It was always good to have a lazy coach lording over a class, since he was usually too preoccupied with thinking about the school football team to really care about petty things like _teaching_) muttered, just as the tremors stopped. "Maximoff! Take, uh, what's-his-name to the nurse's office." 

_Why me?_

"Sure thing," the lithe mutant responded, hopping out of his desk to approach "what's-his-name". He crouched beside the fallen teen, getting a good look at him for the first time. 

_Oh... **Hello**. Nice hair... It looks all silky!_ he thought with a small grin, holding back the urge to reach out and stroke said silky hair (which would get him smacked in the process, most likely). The guy was definitely cute, though not in the rugged "Lance" way. Actually, he was far from rugged... like, if "rugged" was a small island, he'd be all the way on the other side of the planet. No, this guy was different. Very cute, despite the fact that he looked very "damsel in distressy" at the moment. 

"Ow ow ow..." 

"Here, lemme help you up," Pietro said, offering his hand. The boy pushed some scarlet hair away from his eyes and looked up at the speed demon, first confused, then with some mild recognition. 

_Ooh! Pretty eyes! To go with the pretty hair! Maaan, I wish he'd hurry up and take my hand, though, 'cause I reallywannarunnowand-- OOH! The lights are on! Wow, I feel great! Lively, energetic... vivacious! Whatamomenttobealive!_

"Don't touch me!" the redhead hissed in a quiet voice, so that only he and Pietro could hear. And with that, the "perfect moment to be alive" was promptly killed. 

Pietro, feeling excessively impatient at the moment (though he really didn't know why. Well, normally, he was a pretty impatient guy, but at the moment, it was like... tenfold), snapped, "Why the hell not?" Without further ado, he grabbed Prettyboy by the arm and hauled him up. The moment his skin made contact with the other boy's, an odd feeling surged through him. It felt kinda like the last time Rogue touched him, only... backwards... and very, very pleasant. Oh, and tingly. Suddenly... he wanted to run like the wind and be free... like... the wind! 

"Ow! Watch it!" the redhead cried as Pietro hurriedly dragged him out of the room (his newfound energy making it a little more than difficult for somebody with a twisted ankle to keep up). "Ow! Stop-- I--!" 

"That's right, son, walk it off!" Coach Madson called proudly, then turned back to the class to finish up the lesson. 

* * * * * 

"I need to ask you something," Wanda asked rather bluntly. They'd been walking for some time now, not really saying much of anything to each other. Actually, Todd was beginning to think that this was some elaborate plan of hers to lead him into the empty park and kill him, then bury his dismembered corpse and... okay, well, that was a little morbid, now that he thought about it. Wanda didn't even have a _motive_ that he could think of, and besides... well... she couldn't very well kill him if she had a question. 

_At least, she couldn't kill me until AFTER I answered her question!_

"Yeah?" 

She nodded. "Pietro. I-- I just wanted to know how he's been and... you seem to be pretty close with him." 

"Oh. Yeah, we're cool," he shrugged. "I mean, it's hard not to love a guy who can belt out ever song in the Rocky Horror Picture Show at amazing speeds." 

"I find it fairly easy," Wanda murmured under her breath, then shifted her gaze from the ground to the younger boy. "So he's been all right?" 

"Yeah-- well, he gets the VIP treatment, y'know, so he's got it easiest outta all of us, I guess." 

"Figures." There wasn't even an attempt at hiding the bitterness in her voice. 

Todd kicked at a bit of dirt on the ground, not really sure what to say. Well, there was always "Yep, being Pietro is quite the life! Too bad you were in a mental hospital while he got off easy! Wow, you sure missed out on a lot! Shucks, oh well!", but he was sure that would get him punched. Still, he couldn't sit there and _not_ defend his friend. Pietro and Freddy were the only people who were always there for him without fail, so it'd almost be a crime _not_ to stick up for his pal. 

And so, Todd, attempting a nonchalant voice said, "You know, you shouldn't be so hard on Pietro. I mean, from what he told me, there wasn't anything he _could_ do..." 

"Have you ever been abandoned by somebody you cared about?" she asked softly. "Have you ever been tossed aside like garbage by people you thought loved you?" 

"Yeah. Lance," he muttered without thinking. 

"Oh?" 

"Yeah, he just up and left us one day. No warning," he said with a dry little laugh. "Nothin'. We just... woke up one morning, got ready for school and waited around like idiots, thinking he was just takin' his time for once. Finally Tabby barged into his room and... he was gone. Lance just ran off to the fuckin' X-Geeks 'cause he was tryin' to score with Shadowkitten or whatever the fuck her stupid code name is." 

Wanda watched him, listening impassively-- well, he assumed so, anyway. The girl had this way of seeming like she was listening to every word, catching every detail with those sharp blue eyes that were always locked on-- 

_Shit, when did I start noticing her eyes? Well, the look like Pietro's, all dark and-- shit! When did I start noticing HIS eyes?!_

"But... yeah," he said, bringing his little story to an absolutely _thrilling_ conclusion. "So I do know what it's like to be left behind by somebody... Maybe not to the extent that you were, but... um... hey, you can always talk t'me, y'know. The Brotherhood, we're like a family-- only we usually ain't this sappy." 

Wanda cracked another smile, her dark lips curving reluctantly, parting just so he that the whites of her teeth were barely visible. He had to admit, she wasn't bad looking at all, and when she smiled... well, it sent a kind of sick feeling to his stomach. Not a "She's a freak; I'm _so_ gonna hurl!" sick, but a different kind of sick. A more... enjoyable sick, if that was even possible. 

And then... she said something that totally sent the mood crashing. 

"I don't have much faith in families." 

"You can trust me, you know. A fellow ditchee." 

She tilted her head to the side, examining his sincere expression with those stormy blue eyes of hers. "I think..." 

"You think...?" 

"I think you're the first friend I've had in years." 

* * * * * *

A/N: Done! I feel... accomplished! Anywho, the title of this chapter was a line that was in the rough draft and got cut for some reason O.o; And uh... uhhh... oh yeah! Don't expect Pyro to be getting together with ANYBODY any time soon in this fic because... I don't plan on it. Yet. XD Oh, and as for the rest of my fics (yes, another run down): 

"Tumbling Down" - Slightly less stuck than before. Plan on working on it during A-Kon   
"Pietro Maximoff Blah Blah Labyrinth" - Who knew ONE FREAKING PARAGRAPH would stick the whole fic on hiatus?!   
"Empty Pages" - Not going to be updated unless I stab myself in the face, become depressed, die, un-die, and listen to my old Marilyn Manson CDs for ten hours straight then listen to some other stuff, then-- well, you get the picture. Can't write it unless I'm very depressed, and since I'm not, it's on big hold :D

See ya next chapter! (please :D) 


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